Son Commits USD 10 Billion: Softbank To Invest In Indian Telecom and IT
Son Commits USD 10 Billion: Softbank To Invest In Indian Telecom and IT
India is now going to benefit from investment funds from one of the biggest telecom and internet corporations in Japan, Softbank. The Japanese telecom and internet major is looking for opportunities in communications as well as the rapidly expanding the e-commerce sector. The Japanese telecom major has pledged an investment of INR 60,000 crore or USD 10 billion in the IT and communications sector in India. This is one of the largest investment commitments from a firm in Japan following the PM's visit to this nation.
The investment was committed by the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Softbank, Mayayoshi Son in his meeting with the Minister of Telecom, Ravi Shankar Prasad, according to an official statement quoted by the Economic Times. “Mr. Son today assured the Minister that SoftBank would like to invest about $10 billion in India in the coming years. He placed it on record that India is the top most priority for SoftBank,” the Telecom Ministry indicated in its statement, according to Economic Times.
Son also said during the meeting that the PM's visit to Japan had created more optimism about growing economic bonds between the 2 nations. Softbank currently has a market cap of USD 92 billion and it has operations in fixed line telecom, broadband, finance, media, marketing and e-commerce, according to the Economic Times. This Japanese company has made investments in firms such as Hike already. The statement issued by the Telecom Ministry also said Son “further expressed immense faith in the great e-commerce potential of India. He estimated it to become a $0.5 trillion business in the next ten years.” Softbank may also be looking to invest in Snapdeal, according to industry sources quoted by ET.
Son also asked the telecom minister for developing robust and durable mobile phone infrastructure and resolution of spectrum issues. The Softbank chairman was informed regarding the electronic manufacturing clusters and packaging schemes for boosting electronic manufacturing in the nation. The official statement said “The Minister also informed Mr. Son about the vision of the government to transform India into an IT product nation,” it added.
The smart city project for which INR 7060 crore has bee allocated in this year's budget was also discussed during the meeting. India is doing well to look east for further bilateral relations. This will also promote cooperation in the South Asian region. Communications and IT has the potential to grow further and there is much scope for growth. The e-commerce sector also has a lot of potential for further development. Online shopping differs from retail customer experience and this leads to differing profit outcomes as well. Clearly, the e-commerce sector will continue to attract more investment because of its amazing potential.
